


The Crux of the Matter

by blueolympus



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Cats, First War with Voldemort, Maurader's Era Hogwarts, Multi, Time Skips, slight AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-03
Updated: 2017-10-03
Packaged: 2019-01-08 16:16:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12257811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blueolympus/pseuds/blueolympus
Summary: The high and low points in the long life of our favorite half-kneazle/half-cat and the things he's learned over the years. A series of 10 glimpses through the years and the many secrets one learns when viewing the world through the eyes of a cat.Based loosely on a head canon I read about the original owners of Crookshanks.





	The Crux of the Matter

The cat (he was half kneazle but he identified as a cat) was only a few months old in the Summer of 1971 when he first met James Fleamont Potter. It had been a sweltering afternoon when the 11 year old blustered into the room. His hair was ruffled up at the back and he was laden with dozens of packages and parcels that he had insisted on carrying without his mother’s help.  Mrs. Euphemia Potter grimaced as her son unceremoniously dropped all of his purchases at the door and rushed off to inspect all of the animals of The Magical Menagerie. Even in his few short months the cat knew how this visit would go. The child would run first to the owls, the most useful of magical pets,  and gush about how he could send letters to all of his friends. His mother would prefer the owl as well. They were traditional and it would mean her child would be able to write home as much as possible. If he didn’t select an owl he would probably pick a toad. Toad’s were very trendy this school year. Cats were not very trendy.

 

The kitten did not much mind that he was not fashionable. Of course, he was new, he did not know what it felt like to be named, loved, and trusted, and cuddled as the older cats like to remind him. The older cats, there were three and they were named Mimbletonia, Schrodinger, and Jupiter, were all what the workers called ‘rescues’ whose homes couldn’t keep them any more and had come back to the menagerie to hopefully be adopted again. They liked to remind him and his siblings how much easier it was to be adopted for kittens. 2 of his 6 siblings had been adopted so far. Their kneazle mother had appeared, he was told, at the menagerie right before they were born and left before they could even start mewling. The kitten didn’t much expect to be adopted. He was ugly. He knew because the children that did stop to look at him always exclaimed it. He wasn’t entirely sure what ugly meant, but he imagined it to be undesirable since all of the kids passed over him. 

 

The boy, true to form, inspected the owls. He’d apparently found one he liked, a snowy white one with amber eyes that were harshly judging. His mother was fawning over the creature’s beauty but the boy ran a hand through his hair leaving it even messier and proclaimed, “Everyone’s got an owl, mum! Besides, I can send post with the school ones.” He ducked out from under her as she reached to smooth his hair. She whirled around for a moment, unsure of where her offspring had gone off to before he resurfaced at the cage full of toads. 

 

The kitten watched lazily as as one of the staff made her way over to the pair of them, “We’re running a special on toads today.” she said. The boy pushed his glasses up his nose to get a closer look. “They’re two for one.” 

 

He looked at her incredulously. “What on earth,” he asked rather rudely, “would I do with  _ two _ toads?”

 

“James!” His mother exclaimed. Her brilliant red headscarf was beginning to look a bit ruffled after all this running about. 

 

James was gone again before his mother could even begin scolding. She darted all over the store trying to follow after the evidently very hyperactive boy before he finally came to a halt in front of the table near the window that housed half a dozen sunbathing cats. The kitten was rather surprised the boy made it to this table. Most didn’t. One or two of his siblings was rolling around and mewling trying to get the boy’s attention. The kitten did not bother getting up. Now the boy was in such close proximity he could see his features more clearly. His skin was a fair bit browner than most of the people the kitten ever saw. Though not as brown as some. The kitten could understand that; he was Ginger when all of his siblings were black or white or calico. His eyes were amber in the light and his jet black hair seemed to grow more untidy with every passing second as though some potion that had been set in it was beginning to wear off. He was dressed in black robes that still had shopping tags hanging off of them and his face was sharp and devilish. “That is a face that causes mischief” he heard Mimbletonia mew.

 

Of course James could not understand them. He had scooped up the kitten’s calico sister and was examining her intently. “She’s very beautiful.” Said the shopkeeper, who was beginning to look quite as worn as Mrs. Potter who was only just now catching up to the table. 

 

“Oh, dear, she is lovely isn’t she?” Said Mrs. Potter. 

 

James set the kitten’s sister back down and she preened. She knew she was about to get adopted. The kitten was too busy looking at her to notice that the boy was reaching for him until he was lifted into the air. It took all his effort not to sink his claws into the boy’s arms and run. He was not very used to being picked up. “He’s like a lion,  this one!” The boy exclaimed excitedly. 

 

“Well, maybe if you squint your eyes a little.” Replied his mother generously. 

 

The kitten’s world spun as the boy bounced vigorously with him still in his arms. “I want him.” He stated with finality. 

 

“Are you sure you don’t want this one?” Mrs. Potter pointed to the kitten’s calico sister, “that one is a bit ugly.” 

 

“He’s a lion! A Gryffindor - - like me!” 

 

“Jem, you’ve not even been sorted yet,” she started to say but stopped at the fierce expression on her son’s face. 

 

“We’ll both be Gryffindors like you and Dad.” Said James. “And besides, you can be ugly and still be important and brave and stuff.” 

 

Mrs. Potter didn’t seem to have a reply for that. The storekeeper was waiting with baited breath to get this trainwreck of a little boy out of the menagerie. Mrs. Potter waived her hand as if to say “go on then.” The shopkeeper hurriedly began collecting up bowls, food, a cage, and everything they’d need to house a cat. 

 

“That’s what’s what I’m going to name him!” James explained. He held the kitten up so that hazel eyes met orange ones. “Crux. Because he’s important too.” 

 

Crux wasn’t quite sure what this feeling was that had lodged itself in his ribcage. Maybe it was a hair ball? No, he didn’t think so. Perhaps all those rescue cats had been right about having a human. Maybe that was the cause of the fuzzy feeling he had. He didn’t have much time to dwell on it. He barely heard his fellow cats calling out their farewells and the muffled crying of his calico sister before the shopkeeper flicked her wand and suddenly Crux, the Potters, all of their belongings and new cat supplies were all thrust outside. “No charge!” She called as she slammed the door behind her and a ‘closed’ sign illuminated the windows.

 

Mrs. Potter’s eyes were dancing merrily when she glanced at her son. “I guess we’re a bit much for some people, hey Jem?” They both laughed and Crux thought he would rather enjoy having this boy as his very own. And of their ten years together he enjoyed them all.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for taking the time to read this! I had the idea from a headcanon I read on tumblr about Crookshanks being the Potter's cat. Please let me know what you think. Writing from the point of view of a cat is harder than you would think!


End file.
